Chapter 27
Chastity
“Yep,I was lucky I didn’t break my ankle.”
He was lucky, but, typical Hank, he’s minimizing the actual injury. I have no idea who he’s talking to. I heard his phone ring, but I’m on my knees in the living room digging Christmas lights out of a plastic storage bin and cursing myself for not taking the time to store the strands properly. They’re a tangled mess.
Then I grin to myself. I’m done with curses. No more believing in curses for this girl.
“I fractured a bone in my foot. The fifth metatarsal, which apparently is the most common foot fracture. So I’m not even special, which was humbling. I’m getting my cast off tomorrow. I can’t wait. Oh, and me and Chastity DuBois are together,” Hank says. “You heard about that, right? It’s the real deal. I’m her man.” He shoots me a grin from the kitchen.
He puts his phone on the counter on speaker so he can lean on his crutches while he’s chopping some kind of herb. I can’t see from where I am, but it smells like cilantro. The whole situation looks dangerous, given that he just had surgery to realign his misplaced bone, but I don’t even have a chance to freak out before I hear Faith’s voice coming through the phone.
“Oh, I heard about it, trust me. I heard all about it. Obviously, Mom told me like three seconds after it happened. She’s taking full matchmaking responsibility, you know.”
I can’t tell how Faith feels about it from her tone.
All of Hank’s family in town has been amazingly supportive and welcoming of me and Josiah these last few weeks. We spent Thanksgiving at Hank’s parents’, and it was exactly what I’ve always wanted. Nevaeh and Parker went and picked up Miss Loretta and brought her as well for a few hours and it was a day filled with joy and laughter. Faith was in Nashville with her boyfriend, though, helping Cash and his wife with their newborn.
“Hi, Faith,” I call out. “Hank has you on speaker.” I can’t stand when people don’t tell me I’m on speaker, so I figure I should warn her. I’m also afraid she might say something less than flattering about me. “How are you?”
“Mom is crazy. She didn’t matchmake anyone. Here, talk to Chastity while I finish making dinner. Be nice, mean girl. I’m in love with her.”
I stand up and climb over the bin so I can reach the phone.
“Relax,” Faith says, sounding amused. “Chastity, take me off speaker so we can talk woman-to-woman without my brother interjecting dumb comments.”
I pick up Hank’s phone and tap the screen and put it to my ear. “Hey. How are you? Congratulations on your new job and everything. That sounds exciting.”
“You don’t have to do that, Chastity. Play all polite and everything. If you and Hank are happy, I’m happy for you. You are happy, right?”
“Yes.” My throat tightens as I watch Hank maneuver around my tiny kitchen. He fills the space easily, comfortably. Like we’ve been together forever. “Very happy. He’s a great guy.”
“He is. Sounds like you’ve turned into an amazing woman. My mother can’t stop singing your praises.”
That makes my throat tighten. “You know I’m sorry, right? For what happened at the end of senior year.”
“I’m sorry, too. I was very dramatic about the whole thing. I was only mad at you back then because I thought you liked Conway, and then just went with Hank because he was there. I was being protective of my brothers.”
“I totally understand that. I never liked Conway, though.”
“You better not have,” Hank says, though he doesn’t sound worried.
“You said something about going to talk to Conway that night, so I thought you liked him.”
“That was just my dumb cover story so you wouldn’t know I had a thing for Hank. I figured you’d think I was too young for him.” I watch Hank moving slowly but steadily around my kitchen, and it makes my heart full to bursting. “Which I was, then, even if I didn’t know it.”
Faith laughs. “Well, that was ages ago. I’m sorry we didn’t just talk it through.”
“Me too. I should have been honest with you that I had a crush on Hank.”
“God only knows why,” Faith says. “Hank was pretty immature for his age. It’s only in the last five years or so that he’s grown up.”
That makes me feel defensive on his behalf. “He’s very mature and responsible and dedicated now. He’s an amazing man.”
“Thanks for that endorsement, sweetheart,” Hank says, giving me a thumbs up and almost dropping one of his crutches. “Shit.”
I shake my head. “Be careful,” I tell him. “He almost fell off his crutches just now,” I tell Faith.
“That sounds about right. How is your son doing with y’all dating?”
“Josiah loves Hank. It’s going well. We’re trying to take it slow. No sleepovers.” Hank makes a face at my words, but he also winks at me. “But Hank is great with him.”
He is. He’s doing an incredible job of walking the fine line of being a buddy to Josiah, but allowing space for their relationship to evolve into a parent-child connection. I know they’re both eager for that. Josiah wants guys in his life. He loves being with Hank and Conway and Toby. I’m the bigger issue. I’ve never had to share my son. I’ve always been the ultimate decision-maker. Now that we’re committed to a future, I need to let Hank in, let him help me make decisions. And that’s not easy because, as we all know, I’m a worrier. We’re learning together.
Right now, Josiah is with Nevaeh and Parker getting a Christmas tree. We’re having dinner together tonight, and then are going to decorate the tree. Nevaeh is moving out in two weeks into an apartment with Parker, and she and I are both feeling a little melancholy about the change, even though it’s time.
Hank and I also managed to squeeze in some hot, but quick, sex. We’re learning to take advantage of alone time whenever we can.
“He’s going to be the kind of dad that every other kid in the neighborhood wishes was their dad,” Faith says.
The image makes my heart squeeze. “I can definitely see that. He’s a natural.” He’s going to be an incredible father to both Josiah and the children we have together. I want another baby, and so does Hank, but we’re not going to rush it. We’re learning our way around our relationship. I’m not pregnant, in spite of the condom scare. Much to Hank’s relief, we tossed out the too-small condoms and replaced them with ones he chose.
“Well, congratulations, Chastity. I guess in the end, we both landed our middle school crushes. Now that is manifestation at its finest, a full decade in the making.”
“You had a crush on MacKay?” I ask, startled. “I don’t remember you saying that.”
“Maybe by high school I had come to my senses, but I doubt it. Oh, yeah, my crush was massive. And he was way too old for me, too. He was in college and I was in middle school when we met. I was shooting for the moon, and he was rightly thinking of me as a kid. It’s a totally different story now, though. These boys are eating out of our hands.”
That makes me laugh. I meet Hank’s gaze. “It’s because we’re so mature. We need older men.”
Hank shakes his head at me, but he’s smiling. “Can’t argue with your maturity. You’ve been a mom for almost five years. Faith is another story.”
“Is Hank trash-talking me?”
“No, he said he agrees.”
“Put me on speaker again,” Hank says.
“He wants to be put on speaker,” I tell Faith.
“Fine.”
I hit the button and hold the phone toward Hank.
“You’re coming down for Christmas, right?” he asks Faith. “Don’t say you’re not coming for Christmas.”
“I don’t know. It depends on Cash’s plans.”
“You can’t favor one brother over another. Okay, so if you don”t come for Christmas, you have to be here for my restaurant opening.”
“I will definitely be there for that. I promise.”
“Good. Okay, gotta go, I’m cooking, love you, bye.”
Faith laughs. “Love you too. Bye, Chastity.”
“Bye, Faith.”
Hank ends the call and leans over to give me a soft kiss. “You feel better?”
I nod. “Yes.”
He knows I’ve been worried that Faith is somehow still mad at me, and that would be awkward for all of us. But that is one more fear I can put to rest.
Hank caresses my cheek and stares down at me, his eyes warm. “You’re my best friend. And I’m going to spend forever reminding you just how perfect a human being you are, Chastity, and that you are allowed to have fun. I love you.”
Tears fill my eyes. “I love you too. And I’m going to spend forever reminding you what a talented and amazing man you are. And safety first. Always safety first.”
He laughs and pulls back. “Balance, baby. That’s what we have together.”
“You’re right. We do balance each other out. I rein you in. Just a little. You get me to loosen up. We’re the perfect combination.”
The front door opens and Josiah spills in, immediately kicking his shoes off. “We got a Christmas tree!”
“Yay! I got all the decorations out. We’re ready!”
“Do you want some hot chocolate?” Hank asks him.
Josiah nods. “Yes, yes, yes.”
The top of a tree appears in the doorway. “Coming through,” Parker calls out. “Tell me when to turn, Chastity.”
“Five steps forward, then turn right.”
The tree fully appears, and so do Parker and Nevaeh, both smiling and shuffling with the tree. Josiah is in the kitchen with Hank, getting the milk out for him at Hank’s instruction.
My heart is so dang happy. I pull my phone out of my back pocket and put on a holiday playlist. Josiah and Hank are high-fiving. Somewhere along the way, Hank has ditched his crutches and is just hobbling on his cast. I fight the urge to mother him. He’s right. We balance each other out.
“Let me help you,” I tell Nevaeh and Parker as they right the tree by the front window. The tree stand is ready to go, so I guide the trunk down into it.
I get sap on my hands, but the tree is in place. Parker gives me a fist bump when I stand up, and then I head to the sink to wash my hands. Hank is stirring milk on the stove and leans over and kisses my temple.
“Is this how you pictured your Christmas?” I ask him, joking a little. “In a very small house with a broken foot?”
Josiah has run back to the living room and is dragging out more lights from the bin.
“It’s better than anything I ever pictured.” His eyes shine with emotion. “You’re it, pretty girl. You’re stuck with me. Young men fall in love once, and that’s it. You’re my ‘it.’”
I can’t ask for more than that.